(CNN) -- Caster Semenya, the athlete at the center of a gender row, has appeared in a photo glamour shoot in her native South Africa.

The front cover of You magazine has Semenya as the main feature.

The 18-year-old is awaiting the results of a gender verification test ordered by the IAAF, the governing body for athletics, following her triumph in the women's 800m at world championships in Berlin.

Her muscular build and deep voice, coupled with a stunning improvement in performance to win the global title, had led to questions about her gender.

It emerged shortly before the 800m final in Berlin last month that the IAAF were conducting tests, sparking a controversy that shows no sign of abating.

Semenya appears in a four-page feature in South Africa's You magazine, occupying the front cover in a tight black dress and necklace, with the headline ' Wow, look at Caster now.'

She told the magazine: "I am who I am and I am proud of myself. I'd like to dress up more often and wear dresses but I never get the chance."

Posing in other outfits including black leather trousers and sequined top and a stylish dress, Semenya told the magazine that her mother always buys her clothes, adding "now I know I look like this I'd like to do it more often."